It’s been a long time coming, but Barrio Logan is finally getting a town center.

Escrow closed last week on the 6.8-acre Mercado del Barrio project at the foot of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge with the hope that the $80 million investment in a retail and housing project will breathe new life into the historic neighborhood.

“This project is a true win for the Barrio Logan community and all of San Diego,” said Mayor Jerry Sanders. “It’s going to enhance a culturally rich neighborhood, spur small-business creation and create jobs for San Diegans.”

It’s been a long time coming, but Barrio Logan is finally getting a town center.

Escrow closed last week on the 6.8-acre Mercado del Barrio project at the foot of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge with the hope that the $80 million investment in a retail and housing project will breathe new life into the historic neighborhood.

“This project is a true win for the Barrio Logan community and all of San Diego,” said Mayor Jerry Sanders. “It’s going to enhance a culturally rich neighborhood, spur small-business creation and create jobs for San Diegans.”

Rachael Ortiz, chairwoman of the Barrio Logan Redevelopment Project Area Committee, remembers the property as previously filled with rat-infested junkyards and low-quality housing.

“We want redevelopment to be used to take out blight and replace it with things we need,” Ortiz said.

Although the debate over redevelopment statewide has often focused on megaprojects like stadiums, convention centers and subsidized hotels and commercial developments, lower-profile projects like the Mercado illustrate the other end of the scale — infill housing and retail that builders often shy away from because the profit margin seems low and the risk too high.

“Fundamentally, it’s a great site,” said Kevin McCook, project manager for Shea Properties, developer of the 83,804—square-foot commercial portion. Chelsea Investment is overseeing the 92-unit apartments. “The workforce is there, the housing is there. You look at it as a developer and say this site makes a lot of sense.”

The Mercado project has been in incubation for more than 20 years and a string of developers have come and gone as economic cycles waxed and waned. One proposal by developer C. Sam Marasco was dropped, only to be fought over in a court battle that the city ultimately won.

And it’s been costly to the city, which bought the property for $8.9 million, spent untold thousands on planning and oversight and now sold for a nominal $100 to the developers with the hope of a share in upside profits later.

The complicated deal included a $7 million loan from the San Diego Housing Commission for the apartments and a $3.5 million payment from Chelsea to Shea to help cover the commercial costs. After 15 years, the commission has the option to buy the apartments from Chelsea, said Sam Johnson, one of the city redevelopment department project managers. .

But City Councilman David Alvarez said the Mercado should be held up as a model for what future development in built-out neighborhoods will look like.

“I think the future of San Diego is in Barrio Logan and communities adjacent to it,” he said. “The way we’re built out in San Diego, the only way we’ll be able to develop and grow is through infill. What better way to showcase that but in this project and the rest of the plan for Barrio Logan.”

Once construction is completed by the end of next year, low-income residents will move into the apartments and shop at a new 35,891-square-foot supermarket, Northgate Gonzalez.

Tom Baker from Chelsea said there will be a playground on the roof of the parking structure and the community room will include 10 computers and space for classes and social events.

“Funders have been overjoyed with this opportunity,” he said. “They were coming out of the woodwork — people were wanting to do this project. That’s not been an (issue.”

Another aspect of the project is the improvements to Cesar E. Chavez Parkway that will create a ceremonial link to San Diego Bay, said Lara Gates, chief planner for Barrio Logan.

“This being the focal point sets the tone for the type of mixed-use development” elsewhere in area, she said.

Cutting through the project is Newton Avenue, which can be closed off for street fairs and tied into a public plaza at Newton and Chavez.

“This will be a community plaza, where we can have mariachis, Indian dancers, Irish dancers, and community vendors where they can open up a booth every day,” said Ortiz, 70, who has been active in the community for more than 40 years. “We will train local people to be entrepreneurs. I love it so much that the neighborhood can have their own shops.”

Ortiz also said she wrote Gov. Jerry Brown in support of keeping redevelopment agencies alive. He has pushed to end the agencies as a way to reduce state and local budget deficits and later offer different ways to eliminate blight.

“Blight breeds domestic violence and fosters low self-regard, and that turns to violence and disinterest in school,” she said. “Kids can only behave if they’re nurtured in life. We need to nurture our communities.”